Calcutta HC denies TMC faction access to four frozen accounts

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to pass an interim order allowing the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction to operate four debit-frozen bank accounts holding around `804 crore, observing that granting such relief would undermine its earlier order permitting the political party to meet day-to-day expenses.

The matter will come up for hearing again after the Durga Puja vacation, before which the parties will file their affidavits stating their respective positions, the court directed. Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya observed that passing a further order permitting operation of the four accounts would render his previous order “faulted”.

The TMC had sought permission to operate four accounts with public sector banks that were debit-frozen by West Bengal Police, claiming there were lacunae in the FIRs related to the freezing. The state Government submitted that steps had been taken in the criminal prosecution in accordance with law and sought permission for the police to continue its investigation. After hearing the parties, Justice Bhattacharyya said in view of his July 9 order appointing a special officer to clear and meet the day-to-day expenses of the political entity from three other debit-frozen accounts, no further order was required at this stage regarding the four accounts. A report by the cybercrime police station of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate on the investigation was also placed before the court.

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction had moved the high court challenging the freezing of the four bank accounts by the police cyber cell on July 7. The state police had earlier debit-frozen three other private bank accounts of the TMC, which was challenged before the high court, the party’s lawyer Menaka Guruswamy said.

The court had on July 9 appointed a special officer to clear and meet the political party’s day-to-day expenses from those three accounts.

The order was upheld by the Supreme Court after it was challenged.

Guruswamy said the four accounts with the public sector bank held around Rs 804 crore.

Holding that the court had already taken care of the TMC’s day-to-day expenses, Justice Bhattacharyya said no further order was required at this stage regarding the four PSU bank accounts for the “existence of a political party”.

The court said it had already decided not to permit the petitioner to operate the bank accounts in their entirety while the petition remained pending.

The court also verbally observed that the Election Commission should first decide in whose favour the accounts would go in view of the claims and counter-claims of the two factions of the TMC -- one led by Mamata Banerjee and the other by West Bengal Assembly Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee.

Representing the state Government, Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also frozen the three private bank accounts.

He further claimed that former Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation councillor and TMC leader Debraj Chakraborty, who is under arrest in an extortion case, had deposited several crores of rupees in the debit-frozen accounts.

Majumdar claimed that Rs 30 crore had been transferred from these accounts to Leaps and Bounds, a company he said was chargesheeted in the school recruitment scam case.

Guruswamy said salaries of around 200 employees and rent for some party offices were being met under the July 9 order, but argued that a political party had other expenses, including holding rallies and putting up hoardings.

She stated before the court that the FIR based on which the four bank accounts were frozen makes accusations of organised crime and thus former chief minister Mamata Banerjee is being accused of the offence.